ST. JOSEPH, Minn. (UWECBlugolds.com) - While Hannah Mesick (Sr.-Chatfield, Minn.) reached the 1,000-point mark for her career and led the game with 25 points, the UW-Eau Claire women's basketball team was unable to come away with a win in its season opener, falling 69-58 at the College of St. Benedict tonight.

Mesick came into the game with 998 points in her career and nailed two free throws for the game's first two points to reach 1,000 points. Only 14 other players in program history have reached the milestone. She now ranks 14th on the Blugolds' all-time scoring list.

In tonight's contest, the Blugolds held a lead almost the entire first 10 minutes, reaching a six-point lead at one point. St. Benedict took the lead for a while but the Blugolds took a one-point lead into halftime (33-32).

Eau Claire came out strong in the second half and pushed its lead to seven before St. Benedict used a 12-6 run to get back within a point. With just under 10 minutes remaining, St. Benedict tied the game up for the third time of the night and took a lead with less than nine minutes to go and never looked back. The Blazers steadily increased their lead the rest of the way, getting up by as much as 13 with only 20 second left to play.

While the Blugolds outshot the Blazers from the floor (42.1 percent to 38.8 percent), St. Benedict had 10 three-pointers to the Blugolds' three while going 21-for-31 from the free throw line compared to the Blugolds' 7-for-13.

Mesick finished the night going 11-for-17 from the field but shot 3-for-7 from the line for 25 points. Sarah Bingea (So.-Delano, Minn.) also reached double-figures with 11 points while she also led the game in rebounding with eight.

Three Blazers reached double-figures with all of them scoring 12 points.

The Blugolds will be on the road this weekend for the Millikin University Tournament in Decatur, Ill. They will face Millikin at 7:30 p.m. Friday while taking on Marian University (Ind.) at 3 p.m. Saturday.